New York Times Forced to Correct Anti-Israel Editorial

Editorial board errs on claim that Netanyahu was silent on murder of teen

The New York Times has issued a correction to its claim that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took days to condemn the murder of Arab teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, when he actually responded immediately to what he called "the abominable murder."

The New York Times was called out by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) for its false characterization of Netanyahu.

CAMERA wrote in the Times of Israel that Netanyahu had actually commented multiple times on the murder, nearly a week prior to the New York Times false statement.

Subtitled "Can Israeli and Palestinian Leaders End the Revenge Attacks?", the editorial ought to have been particularly precise in reporting the leaders’ respective words and deeds. And, yet, the author/s grossly erred: "On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, after days of near silence, condemned that killing and promised that anyone found guilty would ‘face the full weight of the law.’"

Netanyahu did not remain silent for days concerning the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir. The Israeli prime minister spoke out against the killing of Abu Kheir from July 2, the very same day of the murder. As The Times’ own Isabel Kershner reported: "On Wednesday, after the body of the Palestinian teenager was found in the woods, the prime minister called on Israelis to obey the law, and asked investigators to quickly look into what he called ‘the abominable murder.’"

The next day on July 3, speaking at the home of U.S. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro for a July 4 celebration, Netanyahu again condemned the murder as "a despicable crime" and pledged that everything was being done to find the criminals.

A firework celebration was canceled at the event out of respect to the victims of senseless murders of Khdeir and the murder of three Israeli teens by Hamas.

The following correction has been added from the New York Times editorial board:

Correction: July 9, 2014

An article on Monday about the arrest of six Israelis in the killing of a Palestinian teenager referred incorrectly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the killing of Muhammad Abu Khdeir. On the day of the killing, Mr. Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying he had told his minister for internal security to quickly investigate the crime; it is not the case that "days of near silence" passed before he spoke about it. The error was repeated in an editorial on Tuesday.

The phrase "after days of near silence" has also been removed from the online version of the editorial.